Anxious to begin

GGardens(8)February 20, 2013

The few nice days so far this Feb. have encouraged me to begin my season of gardening. I want to transplant 2 roses to new areas--when would it be a good time to do that? I live in Poulsbo, WA on the Olympic Pennisula.

Immediately, before they start to leaf out - if they have not done so already.

Where you live you could have moved them anytime during the winter. In this area the problem with moving established, everblooming or otherwise modern roses is finding a time when they are not active - near the water it is not unusual to see roses still in bloom at Christmas.

Most years, you definitely do not have to wait until it starts to warm up in spring - quite the opposite, in fact - they often start to leaf out this month, at which point you have missed the boat.

They won't, of course, die if you dig them after they have started to sprout. But you may have the new shoots shrivel, have to be replaced by new ones later - the plant will be set back for a time.